Jaime Lannister Actor Defends His Character: ‘He Is a Very Honorable Man’

It’s not easy being Jaime Lannister on Game of Thrones. Sure, he’s a cocky pretty boy who plays by his own rules, not to mention a deadly swordsman and eldest son of one of the richest and most powerful families in the Seven Kingdoms. But he’s also done some pretty controversial things that have earned him a bad reputation in the honor-based society of the Seven Kingdoms: killing the previous King despite being pledged to protect him (which earned him the nickname “Kingslayer”); crippling a small child by pushing him off the side of a tower — oh, and having an incestuous affair with his sister.

But Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who portrays the character in the HBO series, told Wired at the San Francisco premiere of the new season that despite Jaime’s arrogant and, shall we say, unorthodox behavior, he always has good (or at least understandable) reasons for what he does. In his own way, said the actor, Jaime is “a very honorable man” — perhaps even as honorable as Ned Stark.

“That’s what’s great about the show,” said Coster-Waldeau. “You think you have one truth about a character, and then a few episodes down the road you go, ‘oh, wait a minute,’ and [have to] question your own beliefs.”